Writer-director Trey Edward Shults keeps his jittery story moving so fast you don't really notice the flaws, but you will be made to squirm and forced to quell that uneasiness deep inside your gut.

By Al Alexander/For The Patriot Ledger

How’s this for an opening? You’re in a dark, boarded-up house, far from civilization. Everyone is wearing gas masks and rubber gloves – except for an old, gray-haired man clinging to life. We see his skin pocked by hideous sores as he’s lifted into a wheelbarrow and carted deep into the woods. There, he’s laid in a freshly dug grave, surrounded by his silently grieving family. Then, abruptly, one of the mourners places a pillow over the dying man’s head, fires a bullet into his brain, douses him in gasoline and then drops a match, igniting a roaring conflagration. Are you intrigued? You bet you are! And I can’t think of a better way for a crazy, psychological jigsaw puzzle like “It Comes at Night” to begin. And, as Alice might say if deposited down this Byzantine rabbit hole, it only gets curiouser and curiouser. Through it all, you’re firmly in the grip of wunderkind writer-director Trey Edward Shults, who follows up his acclaimed “Krisha” with another domestic horror tale capable of shaking you out of your shoes. But enjoy it while it lasts, because when faced with the cold reality of life outside the theater, “It Comes at Night” struggles to pass scrutiny. It’s full of holes everywhere you look, and characters whose choices and motivations make no sense.

None of that matters though. Or at least it shouldn’t; mainly because Shults keeps his jittery story moving so fast you don’t really notice the flaws. But it’s his insistence on speediness that dogs him, as he introduces multiple subplots he never bothers to develop. He also tends to break a lot of the rules his film originally sets. It does, however, enable Shults to further his allegorical ambitions of making his tale a sly take on these Trumpian times, when fear of the Other is not only exploited, it’s encouraged – from the top down.

Ah, but I get ahead of myself. All you really want to know is: Will we be scared? Not really, but you will be made to squirm; not to mention forced to quell that uneasiness deep inside your gut. And the source is not a terribly original one, unless, that is, you’ve never seen a zombie movie in which the apocalypse was instigated by a worldwide contagion. Except, this time there are no zombies; just paranoid survivors fearful of every human they spy. Shults introduces us to three of the “lucky” ones right off the bat: “They” being a 17-year-old boy, Travis (Kelvin Harrison, excellent), his mom, Sarah (“Selma’s” Carmen Ejogo), and dad, Paul (“Loving’s” Joel Edgerton).

We meet them right after they’ve sent Sarah’s father up in smoke in the aforementioned jaw-dropping opening. Questions instantly arise: Why is their house boarded up? Why do they wear gas masks? And why is there such a panic when they hear a nighttime intruder downstairs? Be patient, Grasshopper, and you’ll see for yourself. I can tell you – without drawing wrath – that the bearded trespasser is Will (Christopher Abbott), a man who has traveled more than 50 miles in search of supplies for his wife, Kim (sexy Riley Keough), and 5-year-old son, Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner). Or, so he says. Paul, for one, doesn’t believe him; tying him to a tree, gagging him and placing a bag over his head. Such hospitality! Eventually, they reach an uneasy truce; agreeing on both families living together in Paul’s roomy house. This is when things get interesting, but it’s also when Shults’ script runs into problems. Why, for instance, would Paul take Will and his family in, when he so vociferously believes in trusting no one? And what’s up with Travis making eyes at Kim? Is it because she’s the only female in the woods who is not his mother? And those are just the tip of the questions “It Comes at Night” generates, as Shults tries to get by solely on intrigue and suspense. He also draws outstanding performances from all involved, especially Harrison, from whose perspective we watch almost everything unfold.

Add to that Drew Daniels’ creepy, foreboding camera work (which is reminiscent of last year’s “The Witch”) and you got a reason to be glad you wore your adult Depends. It’s all very unsettling, except for the occasional slips in Shults direction, like his failure to resist such clichéd tropes as “gotcha scenes” in which the horror we’re seeing turns out to be just a nightmare. I’d forgive him once, but three or four times? Then there’s Travis’ loyal dog, Stanley, whose fate is telegraphed from the start.

Despite all that, including holes in a script that feels more like an outline than a fully realized story, “It Comes at Night” does what it sets out to do, and does it well. And that’s all due to Shults’ knack for making the grotesque entertaining. It may not look pretty, but it sure as hell is unnerving.IT COMES AT NIGHT (R for disturbing images, violence and language.) Cast includes Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, Christopher Abbott and Kelvin Harrison. Grade: B